1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally pertains to a V-type two-cycle engine and, more particularly, to an air/fuel supply system for use in a two-cycle engine.
2. Description of Prior Art
V-type two-cycle engines having first and second cylinder rows interconnected by a crankcase and separate air intake passages for each of the two cylinder rows are known in the art as represented by published Japanese patent application HEI 2-248628. In this known two-cycle engine arrangement, the air intake passages supplying the cylinder rows are angled inward toward the center of the crankcase. The crankcase defines a crank chamber within which a crankshaft rotates. The air intake passages supplying the cylinder rows in this known arrangement are connected to the crank chamber. Because of this, a swirling flow is created within the crank chamber due to the rotation of the crank shaft. This swirling effect tends to obstruct air flow from some of the intake passages which creates non-uniform intake air flows to the corresponding cylinder rows.
In addition, it is also known to utilize a fuel injection system in combination with a two-cycle engine having an air intake passage as described above. In such an arrangement, it has been known to supply fuel to all the cylinders at the same fuel pressure through the air intake passages. Due to the swirling flow created within the crank chamber as discussed above, a differential pressure is created within the air intake passages for each of the cylinder rows. This pressure differential also tends to create a difference in the fuel pressure between the two cylinder rows. When the mount of fuel injected is determined by the pressure differential between the fuel pressure and the negative air intake pressure, it has been found that a disparity in the amount of fuel received by each cylinder row is encountered. This disparity results in an imbalance in combustion and output between the two cylinder rows.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for an air/fuel supply system which can supply an air/fuel mixture to respective cylinder rows of a V-type two-cycle engine which would eliminate imbalances between the two cylinder rows so as to prevent combustion and output variations.